Germany: New road toll tariffs (Lkw-Maut) - entry into force on 1/12/2023

On Friday 20 October 2023, German Parliament and German Federal Council approved the increase of German road toll tariffs (Lkw-Maut). The new tariffs will enter into force as of 01.12.2023.

The very substantial increase is due to inclusion of a CO₂ component into the road toll. As announced previously, the vast majority of vehicles will fall into CO₂ emission class 1, which is the most expensive one. (see Annex).

CO₂ emission class 1 will cover:

• all vehicles in Euro 0 – Euro V classes
• all Euro VI vehicles first registered before July 2019
• most Euro VI vehicles first registered after July 2019

Consequently, Toll Collect ( https://www.toll-collect.de/de/toll_collect/tc_homepage.html) , the federal enterprise in charge of toll collection and enforcement, will classify all vehicles in CO₂ emission class 1 by default. Owners of Euro VI vehicles first registered after July 2019 should check whether their vehicle can obtain a better classification, using Toll Collect’s emission class finder (see Note). In case of a positive result (CO₂ emission class better than 1), owners will need to apply online through the same website (emission class finder from Toll Collect) to have their vehicle registered in the better emission class. 

For tariffs of “better” CO₂ emission classes (2 to 5), please refer to the table attached. Please note that this table is showing tariffs for Euro VI vehicles exclusively, as all Euro 0 – Euro V vehicles will be subject to CO₂ emission class 1.

Gas-driven vehicles (CNG/LNG) will continue to benefit from the exemption of German Lkw-Maut until 31.12.2023. As of 01.01.2024, these vehicles will be subject to the full tariffs according to their relevant Euro and CO₂ emission classes.

Please note that there is also a change concerning the classification of vehicles according to their weight class:

From 01.12.2023, the basis for classification in the weight classes will no longer be the maximum permissible vehicle weight (MPW), but the technically permissible total mass.  (The technically permissible total mass is displayed on the vehicle registration certificate field - F.1 instead of F.2.)

This change has possible effects on the toll amount. Vehicles may become liable to pay tolls while they were exempted before, or they may enter in another toll category:

• Example 1: "limit class 7.5 t":
  A truck with an MPW rating of 7,490 kg and a technically permissible total mass of 7,500 kg is currently not subject to German road toll but will become fully liable for it as of 01.12.2023.
• Example 2:
  A tractor unit with an MPW of 18,000 kg and a technically permissible total mass of 19,000 kg. Today, this tractor unit is subject to category "12-18 t". As of 01.12.2023, it will be in category "> 18 t with up to 3rd axles".

Source: BGL

Note:

A CO₂ emission class finder is now available on the Toll Collect GmbH website. You can find it in many languages here.

With the CO₂ emission class finder, vehicle owners can determine the emission class of their vehicle on their own. To do this, they need:

• the vehicle's registration certificate (VRC), and,
• the customer information file (CIF) or the Certificate of Conformity (COC).

Important note: all vehicles built before 2019 will be in CO₂ emission class 1.

Source: BGL